Robert Borden

Robert Borden (26 June 1854-10 June 1937) was Prime Minister of Canada from 10 October 1911 to 10 July 1920, succeeding Wilfrid Laurier and preceding Arthur Meighen. Originally a Liberal Party of Canada politician, he defected to the Conservative Party of Canada in 1891, and he led Canada during World War I.

Biography
Robert Borden was born in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, British Canada on 26 June 1854, and he was admitted to the bar in 1878 and became a prominent lawyer in Halifax. In 1896, he was elected to Parliament as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and he rebuilt his party, engineering a broad alliance between enemies of Wilfrid Laurier in order to bring down his government. Borden led Canada as Prime Minister from 1911 to 1920, and he introduced national direct taxation in 1916, nationalized some of the railways in 1917, and introduced compulsory military service in 1917 in response to the need for soldiers during World War I. In 1917, he began to advocate for Canadian autonomy within the Commonwealth of Nations, and he made his case again at the Paris Peace Conference, where the autonomous status of Canada and the other dominions was internationally recognized. He remained a respected international figure after his retirement in 1920, and he was a strong advocate of the League of Nations. Borden died in Ottawa in 1937 at the age of 82.